The truth about Samsung canceling the Note: Galaxy S22 Ultra canceled instead

Get it right! The S22 Ultra is canceled, not the Note 21 Ultra

However, it’s the Galaxy S22 Ultra that we’re interested in the most! Why? Well, because the S22 Ultra is now Samsung’s Note flagship! As you can see by the very real-looking photos posted by Jon Prosser, Samsung’s top “S” flagship will now have:

• A boxy design
• A built-in S Pen

This is literally what used to make the Note a Note. So, yes – it’s really the Galaxy S22 Ultra that’s been canceled, and not the Note! Despite carrying the “S” series branding, this phone was clearly meant to be the unreleased Galaxy Note 21 Ultra.Of course, since the Galaxy S22 Ultra will be released in Q1 of 2022, this will give it the expected processor bump to a Snapdragon 898 and Exynos 2200, which is a great thing. It’s safe to assume that if the S22 Ultra was released as the Note 21 Ultra in August 2021, we would have gotten the overclocked Snapdragon 888+, which is practically the same as the regular Snapdragon 888, which itself is superior to the Exynos 2100 (unfortunately) offered in most markets.

But apart from that logical chip upgrade, there’s absolutely nothing that can convince me the S22 Ultra isn’t the canceled Galaxy Note 21 Ultra. In fact, even the camera system on the S22 Ultra is an incremental upgrade over the S21 Ultra, which is exactly what Samsung would have done if it kept the Note around.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is expected to come with new sensors for the 3x and 10x zoom cameras, but not real upgrades for the main and ultra-wide shooters:

• 108MP main camera
• 12MP ultra-wide
• 10MP 3X telephoto (new Sony sensor)
• 10MP 10X telephoto (new Sony sensor)

Why is Samsung merging the Note and S-series?

Fine! With that out of the way… why is Samsung doing this?! Why is the South Korean company killing one of the unique smartphone lines for the sake of merging it with the “more basic” S-series? There are about three valid arguments to look at. Let’s do it…

The Note was for niche users, and it didn’t sell well

Sales. It’s a public secret that Android flagships haven’t been doing very well in the past five years – at least when it comes to sales. Despite the overall influx of innovation driven by brands like Huawei (until the ban), Xiaomi, and Samsung, and  despite the hype around the various Pro and Ultra Android flagships, it’s the mid-range and budget Android phones which contribute to a much bigger number of sales.Samsung’s situation, in particular, isn’t very bright either. The Galaxy S9 was the last Galaxy flagship to enter the top 10 best-selling flagships. Despite the brilliant Note 20 Ultra and S21 series, Samsung wasn’t even close to making the top 10 best-selling phones list.

The Galaxy Z Fold is the future of the Note

Of course, another (more obvious) reason for Samsung to cancel the Note series is the fact that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 now supports the S Pen. Sure, this one isn’t integrated into the Fold’s body, and you have to carry it in a separate case, but this shall change sooner or later.

I won’t be surprised if Samsung manages to fit an S Pen into the Galaxy Z Fold 4. If not, the Z Fold 5 must be the one to make this happen. This will eventually allow Samsung to remove the S Pen from the S23/S24 Ultra, and go back to “normal”. In fact, this gives Samsung enough time to test the grounds and see if people want an S Pen in the “S” series or not.

Apple – of course, Apple…

And last but probably not least, Apple’s iPhone, which usually comes out in September, is a phone that can overshadow any other device. It’s the iPhone. It’s just a given.

So, I won’t be surprised if Samsung is trying to avoid competing with the iPhone by essentially moving the Note launch from August to February. That’s a smart move! Samsung isn’t the only company that seems to be chased away by Apple’s scary popular iPhones.

In the end…

Ultimately, I think it’s safe to say that it’s the S22 Ultra phone that has actually been canceled. Yes, the name remains, but the spirit and literally the design of the S22 Ultra screams “Note”.

I think that’s a smart pilot study on Samsung’s side. The “Note” name was always associated with a niche range of features like the boxy design and S Pen, and therefore also associated with a niche user base. If you want to sell as many phones as possible, putting youtself in a box of any kind, isn’t the smartest thing you can do.